John D. Giorgis wrote: > >I'm not sure what you are getting at here. Terrorism has existed > >for recorded history. Don't forget that when they win, terrorists > >are called "freedom fighters" or "revolutionaries". > > I disagree with this. Suicide bombings, hijackings, > Oklahoma City-style > bombings, etc. all strike me as fairly modern inventions.
I think his point is that these tactics have been used for ages to express political grievances and attempt a change in policy: attacks on non-combatants, disruption of servics, destruction of public property. And that the way the same are perceived differs from group to group. The Mughals considered the Marathas as terrorists, a lot of people thought they were freedom fighters. Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh were terrorists to the British but we Indians called them revolutionaries then and martyrs today. The last 6 decades or so have seen a change in the nature of terrorism though - the targets are almost invariably non-combatants and modern technology grants them greater capabilities of destruction. > I firmly believe that the next 100 years are a crucial > opportunity to make > the world safe for democracy, as technology gives rogue > states ever greater > potential for destruction. Now is the time to do something about it, > before it is too late. The next x number of years have been crucial ever since the first atomic bomb exploded. And it is always going to be this way. What you say above is comfortable and laudable, but how do you propose to go about implementing it? Who defines rogue states? How do you ensure that they don't develop weapons? What do you do when each rogue state denies your claims and assertions? What organisations and instruments are you going to use to keep a check on what the rogue states are doing? How many pre-emptive wars are you willing to fight? And how many of these wars do you plan to fight in face of international opposition? How do you grade the two menaces of terrorism and rogue states in terms of danger and lethality? The last question is especially important as every pre-emptive war fought to contain a rogue state and make the world safer for democracy would also increase the support for terrorism. At least it will if the US government continues with its current modus operandi. Ritu _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
